Ka`u News Briefs Saturday, March 28, 2015

      Testimony supporting the bill came from Ag Department chair Scott Enright; Hawai`i Farm Bureau Federation President Chris Manfredi; John Cross, of Hawai`i Macadamia Nut Association; and Hawai`i Coffee Association President Jim Wayman. “It is important to provide a path for origin protection and the development of rules to support each of our agricultural commodities,” Wayman said. “This bill establishes a path for those commodities which desire this service to do so without having to go to the Legislature for the passage of new statutes. Individual commodity groups will have a place at the table with the HDOA in determining their own future.”
      Simon Russell, Vice President of Hawai`i Farmers Union United, submitted testimony in opposition of the bill. “Producers are not mentioned in the text of this bill,” Russell wrote. “There already is an international framework for geographic indications (Think Champagne from France.) that is being utilized to great advantage to farmers in Europe. We suggest HDOA and industry take a look at that model and work with us to integrate intentions in this bill with what is already happening globally… .
      “While the intent of this bill may be to establish a Hawai`i geographic origin regime, we do not think the method described in this bill will be beneficial to the producers, and in fact will give buyers and processors more leverage to drive prices down, making it more difficult to make a living farming in Hawai`i.”
      Opposition also came from Bruce Corker, chair of Kona Coffee Farmers Association’s legislative committee; Colehour Bondera, of Kanalani Farm; and Eva Lee, a Volcano tea grower.
      See more on HB 1051 at capitol.hawaii.gov.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

VOLCANO SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES Middle Public Charter School was awarded as the 2014 Recycle-Bowl Hawai`i State Champion for recycling the most pounds per student per school over four weeks of competition. As a first-time participant in this event, VSAS students received support from teachers and staff to collect and divert a total of 984 pounds of paper, cardboard, cartons, plastics and food waste from the landfill. Their outstanding recycling efforts earned their school a $1,000 prize award sponsored by Lex Brodie Tire Foundation. 

      Hawai`i Island schools rallied to divert campus discards from the landfill by participating in the fourth Annual Recycle-Bowl Competition from Oct. 20 to Nov. 15, 2014. Results of this nationwide recycling competition were announced in February, and an awards ceremony was held on March 11 to acknowledge the top schools statewide.
      Local businesses donated awards for the other top three schools in the state – all from Hawai`i Island. The second place winner, Konawaena High School, received a $500 prize donated by Lex Brodie’s Tire Co. The third place winner, Pahoa Intermediate-High School, received a $250 prize sponsored by Goodfellow Bros., Inc. The fourth place winner, St. Joseph Junior/Senior High School, received a $100 prize donated by Island Naturals Market and Deli.
      For information on Recycle-Bowl, sponsored by Keep America Beautiful, visit www.Recycle-Bowl.org. In Hawai`i, Recycle-Bowl is coordinated and promoted by Recycle Hawai`i and Keep the Hawaiian Islands Beautiful.
      For recycling, composting and zero waste information, contact Recycle Hawai`i at www.recyclehawaii.org or info@recyclehawaii.org.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

WITH THE RECENT DOWNGRADE of the Volcano Alert Level for Kilauea’s June 27th lava flow that has been threatening the Pahoa area, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists take a look back at the 1880-1881 Mauna Loa lava flow and the threat that it posed to Hilo in the current issue of Volcano Watch.
      “On the evening of Nov. 5, 1880, people in Hilo and at the Volcano House Hotel at the summit of Kilauea noticed a glow on Mauna Loa – produced by an eruption located northeast of the volcano’s summit. A vent at about the 10,500-foot elevation produced one lava flow that moved to the southeast and stalled about 1.5 miles from Highway 11 near Kilauea caldera. A second vent, immediately downslope of the first, erupted a pahoehoe lava flow that advanced to the northeast toward Hilo.

      “By January 1881, the northeast flow was estimated to be about 18 miles from Hilo. This flow was of interest to Hilo residents, but not a big concern. However, by April, the flow had split into three branches in the vicinity of what is now Kaumana City, a subdivision at the upper Hilo city limits, and advanced to within seven miles of the town. By the beginning of July, a single branch was only 2.5 miles from Hilo.

      “The flows were initially difficult to access. But by July, the flows had moved close enough to Hilo that residents and visitors alike were frequently trekking up to the flow to watch its progress. They observed that the pahoehoe would advance very quickly as narrow fingers for short periods of time and then stall, only to repeat the process a few hours or days later. Astonishing stories of narrow lobes of lava advancing hundreds of feet in a few hours were common.
      “Observers would occasionally note that the lava sometimes occupied a ravine or gulch where water flowed during heavy rains. As the flows got closer to Hilo, people often noticed that warm water seemed to flow out from under the active lava.
      “As the eruption continued, Hilo residents became alarmed, and many started moving their belongings out of harm’s way. The branch closest to Hilo split into two lobes, with one headed down `Alenaio gulch toward the center of Hilo, and the other headed down Kalanakama`a gulch (near and parallel to Mohouli Street) toward the Waiakea Fishponds and Sugar Mill (Wailoa State Park). Everyone feared that the lava would cut through town and enter Hilo Bay.
      “Just as concern was getting intense, the leading tips of both lobes stalled on or about Aug. 10 with the Kalanakama`a lobe a little more than one mile from Hilo Bay. The `Alenaio lobe didn’t quite reach Komohana Street. The lava had destroyed only one house near the current location of Kaumana Elementary School. By Aug. 19, the lower portions of the flow were inactive.
      “This Mauna Loa flow differed from Kilauea’s June 27th flow in two significant ways. The Mauna Loa 1880-1881 flow is about twice the length of the June 27th flow, and the Mauna Loa eruption rate was probably higher.
      “But there were also some similarities. The Mauna Loa 1880-1881 and the Kilauea June 27th lava flows were both pahoehoe and were active for about nine months before their threats were reduced. Both flows greatly concerned the people who lived and worked downslope of the advancing fronts, but the flows consumed only a single house before their leading edges stalled. And both flows cut a swath through heavily forested land.
      “But in the case of the 1880-1881 Mauna Loa flow, the open swath it cut through the forest eventually improved travel from Hilo to Waimea and Kona via the saddle between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. Years later, the Saddle Road, as it is now known, took advantage of this path. Today, Saddle Road crosses four Mauna Loa flows – the 1880-1881, 1855-1856, 1899, and 1935 flows – between mile markers 3 and 29.
      “While the 1880-1881 Mauna Loa eruption may have had a beneficial aspect – blazing a trail for Saddle Road – that’s not always the case with active lava flows.”
      See hvo.wr.usgs.gov for more articles and lava flow updates.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

DESIGNS OF MICAH L.K. KAMOHOALI`I are featured in a solo exhibition opening today at Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.